Smoke
by movingmidnight
Summary: When there's smoke there's fire, and where's there's fire something must be burning. BBRae. Sequel to my story Heat.
1. Restart

It's almost dawn by the time the team comes home from our most recent mission. I hate chases. If you commit a crime, have the backbone to stand your ground and fight. If you run, we'll just find you anyway, and we will be extra ornery because we didn't get to pummel you after you wake us up at 3 in the morning.

Not that I was asleep when the alert went off earlier tonight.

I glance over at Beast Boy, who was up with me. He tries to stifle a yawn as Robin starts debriefing us. I should probably pay attention.

"Man, can we do this after we all get some shut-eye?" Cyborg interrupts with a yawn of his own.

"Fine," Robin consents, "But 10 a.m. practice is still on."

The rest of us mutually groan, but we accept our fate, and we each start to part for our bedrooms, hoping to catch what little sleep we can.

Except for me and Beast Boy.

He stands rooted to his spot until everyone leaves. Then he looks to me.

"So…" I say, lifting myself onto the kitchen island behind me, "We didn't die."

He smirks and moves towards me, but I notice I slight limp in his right leg.

"Injured?" I ask him once he reaches me.

"Nah," He shakes his head as he places his hands on either side of me. He smells like smoke, "I just banged my ankle on something while Cy and I cleaned up after the arsonists."

"You should let me heal it." I say, but all he does is lean closer until our noses touch. His fingers reach out and stroke my wrist.

He ignores what I say about his ankle, "So, what are the rules?"

"Rules?"

"Rules, boundaries, no-no squares; whatever is gonna keep me from being thrown out of a window." He grins at me, "I'm okay with going slow; I just need to know how slow."

I think of how slow this encounter can go. I slip my hands across his shoulders and let them dip into his hair. I press against him, his breath hitches. I can go slow, so slow that it's painful to wait, until every tiny touch is like fire.

But even I'm too impatient for that.

"I'll let know if you cross a line."

I kiss him and he responds in turn. The kiss is harsh and desperate, and I like it that way. It helps me actually believe he wants me too. I bite his bottom lip and he practically pulls me off the counter to get me closer to him. My legs wrap around his midsection.

I tug on his hair, and he actually growls low in his throat. I tug harder; another growl. I should not find that sexy, but I do. How easy would it be to get back into bed with him right now? He playfully bites my tongue. It would be _so_ easy.

"I do not mean to interrupt my friends, but are you aware of where the extra mustard is?"

I don't think Kid Flash could have moved faster than we did. In a second we separate and I jump off the counter. I feel hot all over. How did we not hear Starfire come back in here?

"Um…" Beast Boy points towards a cabinet near the fridge as an answer.

Starfire smiles and floats over to the cabinet and finds what she's looking for. Giggling, she fills a glass with mustard and puts what remains in the fridge. I don't think Beast Boy and I are capable of language at the moment.

"Thank you, you may resume your coupling now." Starfire grins and begins to sip on her mustard as she floats towards her room.

"We're screwed." Beast Boy says beside me.

"Royally." I agree.

Starfire is great at the avoidance game. She's a lot better than I gave her credit for. I try to talk to her about the incident this morning before training, but she brushed me off with the excuse of taking care of Silkie. I try again to talk to her after training, but she flies away before I get the chance.

I sigh and glance over at Beast Boy from across the training field. He offers me a useless shrug of his shoulders. Figures I'd be left to talk to Starfire. Stupid boys.

I decide to go and meditate. Starfire obviously isn't spreading the news and I've already tried twice to talk to her. There's not that many people left to tell. Robin's the only one who doesn't know yet. I cringe at the thought of him knowing. I need to go meditate.

Beast Boy passes me on our walk back into the tower; he touches my shoulder before he walks on without me.

An hour into my meditation, there's a knock on my door. I consider the idea of getting a 'Raven's meditating, go away' sign for my door when l I hear Star's voice.

"Raven? May we speak?"

I quirk my eyebrow, I wonder what she wants to talk about, especially since she couldn't bother to give me the time of day earlier. I unfurl from my lotus position and open the door anyway.

"Come in."

She steps through, and closes the door after herself.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Beast Boy has spoken to me, and I wish to apologize. I did not realize that you're coupling together was meant to be a secret. I have known for quite some time that you two have become bedroom companions. I do live just down the hall from you, as you know."

I know I'm blushing, "You knew?"

Starfire nods enthusiastically, "I have known since before the unfortunate day that little girl passed, but since you two have never made mention of it to me, I did not wish to make you feel as if I were doing the snooping. I am sorry I was very forward last night. I did not mean to upset you."

Starfire reaches out and grabs my hands, and looks at me expectantly, "We are well?"

"We're well." I tell her, but my cheeks still burn, "Were we really that loud?"

She giggles, "Oh, no! You two were not any louder than any other couple in coitus. I simply have better hearing than most humans."

"Oh, so long as we're not louder than anyone else." I pull my hands away from hers, "Would you mind, not telling Robin about…Beast Boy and I? We're still…"

"Doing the 'going slow', Beast Boy has told me as much." She nods again, smiling "I promise that I shall keep your secret."

I thank her, but before she has the chance to leave, I have to ask. "What else has Beast Boy told you?"

I'm not sure how, but her smile widens. "Are we to do the girl-talk about Beast Boy?"

She's willing to keep whatever she knows a secret from Robin, I appreciate that enough to relinquish some of my time to 'do the girl-talk', besides maybe I can glean some intel on what else Beast Boy decided to share with our teammate.

"Sure."

Starfire giggles and plops herself upon my bed. I chuckle at her eagerness, and move to join her.

I find Beast Boy later, playing video games in his room.

"Not playing with Cyborg?" I say from his doorway.

He turns and grins at me with a shrug, "Says he's got too much work to do on the T-Car after last night, says he misses you though. Apparently you're awesome around the garage."

I'm slightly pleased by the fact Cyborg likes my company so much, but I doubt I was awesome. "Well you know, just get a girlfriend and I can just go back to sulking in the garage with him."

I move past the door and sit next to him on the floor. It's not as dirty as usual. At least there's no underwear on the floor, just some old pizza boxes and comic books.

"You _sulked_ over me? Rae, I'm touched." He puts his hand to his chest and pretends to swoon.

"You like kissing me more than you ever liked sleeping with Shannon." I pretend to bat my eyelashes at him, "I'm touched."

He sits back up and glares at me, "Starefire told you that?"

"She told me a lot of things." I smirk, "One of the few privileges of girl-talk."

He groans and falls back onto the floor, "So she told you everything I told her?"

I lay down next to him, "Including the part where you talked to her about last night."

I kiss him on the cheek. He smiles at me and places his hand on mine.

"So, we're still not dead. In case you haven't noticed."

I roll my eyes at him, but I let him kiss me, he's earned it. He's slow, and deliberate, and presses against me gently. It's very different from last night, but I like it. I like it a lot.


	2. Relapse

It's three of us in the garage today; Cyborg, Beast Boy and I stand around the T-Car, hanging out. Well, mainly it's me and Cyborg standing around the T-Car, he actually trusts me with it; Beast Boy is restricted to keep a minimal distance of five feet. I had to talk him down from fifteen.

The situation is new, but we fall into it rather easily.

"So, uh Star knows about 'this' now?" He gestures between Beast Boy and me.

"Apparently she knew before you did." I tell Cyborg while I rummage for a tool he requested. He should reconsider his organization system; I pull out some sort of wrench.

Cyborg shakes his head at me, but apparently I made the correct choice, because he takes the wrench from me. He begins to work. I glance at Beast Boy and he smirks at me.

"So, what, that leaves Robin who don't know?"

Beast Boy turns his attention to Cyborg, but he's still smirking. "Yep."

Cyborg nods, "Probably for the best, too many questions."

I think Beast Boy and I appreciate the fact that Cyborg isn't the questioning type. I was still getting plenty of them from Starfire. The majority of the questions she asks I don't feel comfortable answering. I can only imagine the interrogation Robin would give. Cyborg picks his head up from his work and hands me back the wrench. I throw it back in the box and it lands with a clank. Cyborg glares at me.

"Organize your stuff better." I shrug.

He rolls his eyes at me and I roll my eyes back. Cyborg smirks before he looks at Beast Boy.

"You know you don't deserve her right?"

Apparently he is the questioning type. I expect Beast Boy to be offended, but he grins and chuckles in agreement.

"Yeah, I know dude. I'm working on it." He winks at me.

Beast Boy's communicator goes off. It's Robin. Cyborg and I listen in as Robin let's Beast Boy know that there's a mission, just the two of them. It's an odd pairing. With instructions on where to meet, Beast Boy nods and puts the communicator away.

"Duty calls." He does a mock salute towards Cyborg and sends another wink at me before he leaves.

I glance at Cyborg, waiting to see if he has anything else to say on the matter.

"Ya'll are nasty." He says.

I can't help the smile.

It's very late when Beast Boy and Robin return from their mission. I'm asleep, and without a word, not so much as a knock, he comes into my bedroom and wakes me up. I'm not terribly pleased about it.

I sit up and ask him what's going on, but all he does is approach me. Once he gets close enough, he pulls me up to my knees and kisses me. His kiss is frantic and his hold on me is threatening blood circulation. Something went wrong.

I manage to pull back and look him in the eye, "What happened?"

His breathing is heavy, "Rob almost died."

I feel like Captain Cold just shot me. "Is he?"

"Cy's got him, says he'll be fine, but…" He trails off, suddenly taking a very strong interest in my lips, judging by the way he's staring at them.

Beast Boy kisses me again, my lips bruise beneath his and one of my arms begins to fall asleep. I respond gently, slowly; I try to coax him into relaxing, but instead his actions become more feverish. One of his hands is gripping my hair, which hurts, and the other is dancing dangerously at the hem of my nightshirt. We've recently discussed a rule about how clothes stay on, and hands stay over clothes. We both agreed.

His fingers dart beneath my top. I don't realize that I slap him until my hand connects to his cheek. He lets me go, and after being held up by him, I drop onto the mattress like a rag doll. He touches the cheek where I slapped him. We both know I could have done a lot worse to him.

"You crossed a line." My voice is strangled, but I'm not sure if it's by anger or surprise.

Beast Boy nods and takes a few steps back from the edge of my bed. "I think… I think I should go."

I don't respond, but stare at my sheets instead. I hear him walk out. My fists clench, and I'm left alone with my thoughts for a few minutes until I force myself to go after him.

He's in his room, pacing, and he's very surprised to see me. He should be surprised. He should also feel guilty, and I'm not here to change that.

"You deserve to feel guilty about what you just did." I tell him when I come in. "But you need me for whatever happened with Robin tonight."

I pass him and get into his bed. He seems even more surprised at this. I glare at him. He must be wondering when I'll hit him again.

"You need me, but you crossed a line, however small." I continue to glare when he joins me beneath his sheets, "So I'll lie in bed with you tonight, but there won't be any kissing, no touching, not for several weeks."

Beast Boy nods along while I explain all of this. I appreciate the fact that he doesn't ask exactly how many weeks it'll be. He stays on his side of the bed. There's half a foot between us. My stare softens.

"I don't deserve you. Cy was right." He tells me.

We're quiet for a moment.

"You'll work on it." I say, but do not entirely believe, "Tell me what happened with Robin."


	3. Reinstate

Robin recovers slowly. Both of his shoulders were dislocated, and one hip has a hair-line fracture, the other was dislocated. I don't even try to imagine how he managed that. When I see him it's like his arms are a snip away from coming off his body; the bones jut out weird. For some reason he only trusts me to pop them back into place, so I do. It hurts him like hell, but I manage to magic away some of the pain. I hated how he screamed when I did his hip, but it was better that I did it. Beast Boy feels guilty enough about what happened, and Cyborg and Star didn't need to go through it.

It's two weeks until Robin's able to walk again; it's also two weeks until we're all called to action. There's a shooter at the high school.

I hate those even more than chases.

The police are already surrounding the school when we get there. Robin, who's usually best at stealth, has to stay behind and coordinate with S.W.A.T., while Beast Boy and I sneak inside. Our job is to find the shooter, take him down, while Cyborg and Starfire assist with evacuation. We start on opposite ends and work our way to the center of campus.

I clear four hallways before I hear a gunshot. I hear the screams, and the fear tastes bitter in my mouth. I fly fast and find the source of the sound. I remember passing through a classroom wall, seeing the shooter, grabbing him and his gun, and then tremendous pain. That's it.

Beast Boy fills me in on the details later when I wake up in the med bay. A sniper shot me, well; more like my shoulder was in the way of his bullet.

What came after that was apparently a nightmare for everyone involved. The fear of an entire school and the rage I registered from the shooter added to the shock of a bullet wedged in my shoulder sent my powers on a rampage. Chairs contorted, desks essentially melted, and shadows splashed against every corner.

Beast Boy managed to stop me.

He had to knock me out with a contorted chair to stop the chaos. That explains the headache. After sufficiently terrorizing the shooter, and the rest of his classmates, getting the shooter to hand himself over to police custody was pretty easy. Not that I remember that. Robin gave Cyborg strict instructions to take me back to the tower once Beast Boy got me out of the school. Though, that was this afternoon, based on the lack of light outside of the window, its past midnight.

"Where are the others?" I ask once we've recapped on what happened.

"They left." Beast Boy shrugs, "Robin insisted we all try to catch some shut-eye."

"And you're not in bed because…?"

"I couldn't sleep."

I nod. I try to sit up, but I'm lightheaded and dizzy and I fall back onto the cot. Out of the corner of my eye I see that Beast Boy has jumped out of his seat. He pauses mid-motion before he sinks back into the chair.

"Sorry." He mutters.

I roll my eyes. "I got shot today. You're allowed to be worried."

"I know, it's just that, I almost…"

"What, touched me?" I snort, "It's not like you haven't done that before."

He glares at me, "You don't want me to touch you, remember?"

I glare back, my head and shoulder aches, and he's complaining about not being able to make-out with me. I manage to sit up now and swing my legs to the edge of the bed.

"I'm going to my room. Feel free to mope all you'd like here." I tell him while I take a crack at standing.

"I'm not moping." He tells me with a snarl.

"Sure," I say. I can stand, but I'm leaning heavily on the bed.

"I'm not!" His shout startles me, and I see his hands clench and shake, "I'm pissed! My best friend gets herself shot, and because she has this crazy idea that I'm only interested in sex, I can't even hug her!"

I lean completely on the bed.

"I know I fucked up a couple weeks back, Rae. I know, and I'm sorry, but it's like, you're not real, and I need you to be real, because…you got shot and I need to know that you're okay."

He looks like his bones have turned to jello. I reach out for him with one hand, and he takes it. Soon I'm pressed against him. His arms wrap around me, but he's careful about my shoulder. I rest my head on his chest; I'm too tired to return the hug.

"I'm a hero Beast Boy. Heroes get shot." I tell him. "Are you going to do this every time?"

"Yeah," He whispers into my hair.

At first, his answer worries me. Like I said, I'm a hero, and this isn't the first or last time that I've gotten seriously hurt. I don't want him to turn to jello every time I get hurt. I close my eyes and ease into him.

He kisses the top of my head, it wasn't planned; I know it wasn't since he mutters a quick apology afterwards. I think about how I would have reacted two weeks ago; how I _did _react two weeks ago. I had been angry and I knew he would eventually be okay, but I went to him, stayed the night with him.

"Okay." I sigh. If he needs to do this when I'm hurt, I can deal.

"Still wanna go to your room?" He asks me after a few minutes.

"Yeah," I look up, "Wanna help me there?"

He grins at me like an idiot, "Sure."

He falls asleep in bed with me, his arm around my waist and his face against my neck. It's the best I've slept in weeks.


	4. Rename

It seems like the busiest month the team has ever had. Around the clock several groups of would-be gangs start fights with one another; this is something we would leave to the police, since they are only would-be. Except, they've somehow gotten their hands on some advanced tech that makes street fights a little more lethal than usual. We're out of the Tower more often than not. Anytime we are in the tower, we're asleep. Beast Boy and I curl around each other and pass out together.

The alarm goes off, _again_. Great. I rise with a groan, my body protests, how many hours did I get? Three? I nudge Beast Boy.

"Wake up."

"No." He mutters sleepily and pulls me back down onto the bed. He presses his face against my shoulder.

"Let's go. Someone's wreaking havoc in the city again." I tell him, but settle back against him regardless. It's warm. Let the idiots kill each other today.

"No wreaking today." He kisses my shoulder a couple times, "Tell Robin I quit."

I lock my fingers with his, "Right after I quit too."

I'm able to drown out the sound of the alarm and begin to fall back asleep before someone pounds on my door.

"Yo! Get up before Robin comes looking for ya'll!"

Of course Cyborg knows we're both in here. I groan, hopefully loud enough for him to know we've heard him. Beast Boy rises first this time, he tugs on my hand.

"C'mon, babe."

I give him the least threatening glare possible, "Don't call me babe."

"Okay, babe." He pulls us both from the bed with a yawn.

We forget that we're holding hands when we reach the OPS center. Luckily, Robin's too focused on the screen, and Starfire's giggle alerts us to it before he can turn around. Cyborg rolls his eyes at us.

"Ya'll are terrible at keeping this a secret." He whispers to me.

I'm too tired to protest, so I just nod.

Robin pulls up a photo of a man we all know. Professor Chang, he's been the main suspect behind the technology these sleep-takers have been using, apparently he's behind more than that. Business has been slow.

"He's been the instigator of all the street fights we've been breaking up over the last month. Our mission is to track him down and take him in before he instigates another fight where someone might actually get hurt." Robin reports.

So, essentially, we're going on a chase. Perfect, my favorite.

His arm falls across my hips when he plunges into bed next to me. I turn and bury my face in the hinge of his shoulder and his neck. Professor Chang had been easy enough to take down, but it was helping the police find the rest of the tech that he had cached all over town that took up most of our day. Beast Boy sighs against the shell of my ear.

"We aren't doing anything tomorrow, are we?" He asks.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." I answer, thinking he's talking about the team, not just the two of us. "You'll have to drag me out of this bed."

"Cool, cuz Cyborg wants to steal me for my birthday."

My head shoots up. I completely forgot. Beast Boy laughs at me.

"I forgot," I try to apologize; "We've been busy."

"I know." He smirks at me before he sneaks a quick peck on the lips. I thought he would be more upset.

"Is there anything you want?" I settle back down against his neck.

"A big, fat, birthday kiss." He grins.

I roll my eyes. "Really? Because I was considering a full-body massage, with oil and a happy ending, but if all you want is a kiss..."

After a long pause,he turns his head and looks at me with a sneer, "You were not."

I smirk and give him a light kiss, "You never know. Now go to sleep birthday boy."

He grumbles, but pulls me closer and rests his head against mine. Sleep is imminent.

"Let me call you babe." He speaks suddenly, waking my up from my almost sleep, "That's what I want."

I blink tiredly. I don't like the pet name babe, it sounds so misogynistic and possessive; it's also the name of a talking pig.

"Why on earth would you want to call me that?"

"Because…it's my birthday. And I won't use it in front of the others, just when it's us; promise."

I feel his fingers stroke my back; he's nervous. I know this has nothing to do with his birthday. I press my lips to his neck. I'm not great at words.

"Just don't call me baby." I consent.

His hand presses my back; he manages to shift closer to me. "Thanks babe."

The next morning, after he leaves to go spend the day with Cyborg, I go find Starfire. If there's anything she is good at, besides kicking villain ass and putting up with the rest of us, it's this.

I knock, and when she answers I go straight to the point.

"What do you get for the guy you make-out with and have feelings for, who calls you babe, but you won't date because it's complicated?"

Her face lights up and she grabs ahold of me and starts dragging my down the hall.

"To the mall!" She squeals.

I'm in hell.


	5. Remake

I'm conflicted. My powers toss items across the room in accordance with the argument I have with myself. I'm kinda proud that nothing breaks; that's a nice change, especially since nothing in here is mine, yet. Though, of course, I don't have to get anything. I grunt. Shopping is infuriating when it doesn't involve books.

All Beast Boy really wanted was to call me babe. I've conceded to that, and I still wonder if I'll ever regret that decision. Either way, I technically don't need to get him anything else. But he's my friend, and friends get each other gifts on their birthdays; real gifts with substance.

Though of course, the items I'm currently considering don't have that much substance. I shoot Starfire a look as necklace off a mannequin flies off and joins the other items I have floating around the store. Some of the other patrons look upset. Too bad. They can blame Star, she brought me here. She's dangling the stupidly good-looking carrot.

I'm not a gift, I'm not a thing to be unwrapped, I'm a person. The items shift to the right side of the store, and frighten a salesclerk. I don't even register her glare. On the other hand, the look on his face would be priceless, and whatever happened after would kinda be a gift for both of us. Now, the items fly to the left side.

I am not this kind of girl. Stuff zooms back over to the right. I do not get hung up on a boy, I do not dress up for a boy, and I certainly do not waste my time like this for a boy. I'm a freaking superhero. I have powers unimaginable; I have knowledge of lost and ancient arts, and I have…

Stupid fucking Beast Boy, who already knows all that, he knows me. He knows not to expect something like this. If I go through with it, he would think that it was something I wanted; he'd never think I'd give up any of my independent thinking for him. So I won't.

My powers let all the hoarded items fall to the ground. Luckily no one gets hit.

"I'll take it."

The salesclerk gives a sigh of relief while Starfire squeals.

I keep my cloak closed as much as possible when I knock on his door later. We just got done with cake and presents, so he'll be free. If he isn't, I'm sure I can convince him to be. He opens his door with a grin.

"Is it time for my big, fat, birthday kiss?"

I smirk in response and walk past him into his room. I see him punch in the code that both closes and locks a door. I've trained him well. He's still smiling when he turns around.

"Cyborg didn't believe me when I told him you let me call you babe now."

I roll my eyes. I should have known he might brag about that. I decide to leave it alone, it's a harmless factoid. I reach for the clasp of my cloak.

"Think he'll believe this?"

The cloak falls from my shoulders. The only thing I have left on is a black lace bra, and matching panties. The look on his face is superb. I only wish I had a camera. I approach him.

He barely manages to speak, "I don't…I don't believe. Rae?"

I chuckle and wrap my arms around his neck once I reach him. It's been weeks since I've had him alone where we weren't both dead tired. I intend to make up for lost time.

I kiss him. His response is slow and clumsy, and he ultimately pulls away because he doesn't know where to put his hands.

"Rules?" Beast Boy nods towards his empty hands.

"Underwear stays on," I kiss him once; "Everything else is fair game."

He captures me then, and I mean he literally captures me. His lips smash against mine and one hand goes into my hair while the other scans my back for bare skin. He finds a lot of it. I feel breathless when he holds back for a moment.

"So, I can kiss you here?" His mouth moves to my throat.

I think I might have underestimated how much skin I actually have showing, and how long ago it's been since I've shown it. That small kiss sends shivers through my body.

"Yes."

I almost feel his smirk as he dips lower to my collarbone, "Here?"

"That too." I wish he would do more than kiss me.

"And here?" His mouth moves to that slim space between my breasts.

I make a small noise in response at first, he makes his way back up to my mouth, biting and sucking. I make more stupid small noises.

"Everywhere," I manage before he kisses me again.

We're slow about getting to his bed. A lot of time is spent in shameless groping; on both our parts. Somewhere he loses his pants; leaving him with just his shirt and boxers. Once we reach the bed, I push him down onto it.

"Take off your shirt." I tell him.

He laughs and complies, "Being bossed around on my birthday."

"You like it," I smirk and claim a seat on his lap.

My hands fan across his chest while he kisses my neck again. I feel the new scar before I see it. It's jagged and stretches across the right side of his chest. Beast Boy pauses when I move to look at it better.

"When did you get this one?" I ask. I've seen him naked so many times, I know where each scar is, I even know where most of them came from.

"Remember that mission I had with Rob?" He replies.

I run my hand over it again, it's such a rough scar, as if the stitches weren't done quite right, "Why didn't you let me heal it?"

"You were mad at me." He shrugs, "I mean, you had every right to be, besides, I managed to stitch myself up after I brought Rob back."

"Tell me next time, even if I'm mad." I say.

"Okay, Babe."

He kisses me gently, thinking that he's upset me somehow. He pulls me closer and rests his hands on my hips. I kiss him back absently; my mind is somewhere else. Beast Boy leans back, and tries to pull me down with him, but I remain upright on his thighs. We part, and he sighs and sits up again.

"Rae, you don't have to feel guilty, I swear, it's okay."

I shake my head, because that isn't what I'm thinking about. I shouldn't feel insecure, it's my body, I can decide who or who does not get to touch it. I shouldn't feel insecure if Beast Boy understands that, because he obviously does. I still feel insecure.

"Is this enough for you?" I ask. "I mean am I…"

Beast Boy kisses me before I can finish. That's rather rude.

He barely moves away when he stops, his hands migrated their way into my hair when I wasn't paying attention.

"Anything to do with you is enough, Rae." He kisses me again, but it's quicker this time, "If I never sleep with you again, I'd still be the luckiest fucking idiot on the planet."

I nod, so he knows I've heard him. He pulls me down onto the bed with him this time. We kiss hard and move fast. Our limbs entangle and we're almost instantly in a position that if we didn't have flimsy fabric separating us, we'd be fucking.

"So, does a bra count as underwear?" He asks as he kisses that spot between my breasts again.

I grace him with a smile, "Not tonight."


	6. Realign

We become greedy. In the spare moments between practices, missions, and meals, we find dark corners and touch all the bare skin we can, just like we used to. The moments are brief, and really only feed our greed. Though, as greedy as we've been feeling, I honestly don't feel like rolling around almost naked in someone's bed today. And neither does he.

For once it seems, the city doesn't seem to be in immediate peril and I take the opportunity to read while Beast Boy rests his head in my lap. I don't think we know how to be alone together and _not _touch. I will admit that it is nice though, that we can hang out like this.

"So, why is your room so creepy?" He asks.

Maybe it's not as nice as I thought. I close my book and give him a look.

"Is there something wrong with my room?"

Beast Boy shrugs, he's grown impervious to my looks, I'll have to work on that. "It's just gloomy, and dark. I mean out of all the ways to decorate, why that?"

I look at it, and it is indeed, a little on the creepier side, but it reminds me of a place I loved.

"There was a library at the monastery where I grew up, and it looked like this. The monks never really used it, so I got to be in there alone. When I finally got a space of my own, I wanted it to be something I felt safe in."

"Soo, not so creepy then," his fingers idly stroke my knee.

"Not to me."

I don't return to my book, instead I play with his hair, and we sit in silence for a while.

"It's weird how the tower doesn't have a library." He looks up at me, "I mean; I know we have all these super computers, but still, it's weird."

I chuckle at him, "Are you saying you would actually read if we had one?"

He shrugs again, "I dunno. Reading isn't a thing for me. Books weren't that big to me when I was a kid. On the reserve we only had reference books, and old medical textbooks. And there wasn't much time to read on the Doom Patrol."

"We should definitely have a library then, if only to catch you up to the rest of us."

He sticks his tongue out at me, "And risk showing that I might actually be as smart as you? No way. I'll just stay your little idiot, babe."

I flick his nose and frown at him. He knows I don't think he's stupid. Grinning at me, he takes my hand and brings my knuckles to his lips.

"We usually don't talk about our messed-up childhoods."

"We usually don't talk." I reply.

"Yeah, I'm usually too busy trying to get back into your pants for that."

I raise an eyebrow, "I thought you weren't after sex?"

"I'm after a lot more than sex." He admits bluntly as he raises himself off my lap, "But babe, can you blame me for wanting sex? You're hot."

His lips press against mine in such a slow, sensual way that I moan a little. Shameful, but it doesn't stop me from returning his kiss and wrapping my arms around his neck. We move slowly, so everything burns. Apparently talking about our messed-up childhoods is a turn on for both of us. By the time our shirts come off, he has me backed against my headboard with a flushed complexion and hitched breathing.

I bite his lower lip, dragging my teeth against it until it slips from my grasp. He growls, I no longer care if I should find that sexy or not, I pull him against me. We twist, and suddenly I'm laid against the comforter with Beast Boy above me. I should probably not find the look in his eyes sexy either, since he looks like he could just eat me whole, I consider letting him. He trails kisses from my ribcage down to the band of my sweatpants, which he is so helpful in taking off a moment later. I kiss his neck while I hook my thumbs into the waistband of his shorts.

"You don't want to do that." He mutters in a rough voice.

I move to look at him, "Why's that?"

"I'm not…exactly wearing anything underneath…"

I should probably think that's rather forward of him, I should probably give him shit for it, but instead, impossibly, I think it's sexy. The slightly guilty look on his face makes what I'm about to do completely worth it. I keep my hands exactly where they are.

"Someone thinks he's gonna get lucky." I smirk.

"No! I just-" I kiss him and pull down his shorts.

The shocked expression on his face is wonderful, "He might be right."

His eyes go dark and he practically lunges at me. My bra comes off. Our hands go everywhere; though he's stupidly shy about the fact I still have panties on. I take the damn things off and put his hand where I desperately want it to be. It's been a long time since he's touched me there, and it shows.

I bite his shoulder hard when he flexes his fingers. My nails gently rake down his chest and across his stomach and down past his hips. He's already hard when I touch him, but my fingers manage to extract another growl from him, and then another, and then another. I lose track.

Soon I stop, however, because he has me close, so close, and it's hard to focus. My nails dig into his hips. He teases me at the edge, knowing I'm close, but not letting me come, not yet. He kisses my mouth and lets me go; I make a strangled sound against his lips. My body feels warm and limp as I come back down to Earth.

Beast Boy chuckles as he kisses my cheek, "You said my name."

I turn to look him in the eye, "I did not."

"You said 'Gar'" His arm slides around me and pulls me to his chest, "It was pretty fucking hot."

I think back to his ex-girlfriend, the ditz who would call him Garfield all the time. She probably said it in bed too; I don't want to think about it. I think about it anyway.

"I wouldn't count on it happening again." I say, the thought of his ex is bittering my afterglow, and I don't appreciate it.

"It's a lot better than Garfield." He tells me as if he's reading my mind. "I always hated that name, but Gar? Gar's got this rough and tough ring to it. I wouldn't mind if you started calling me that."

I smirk at him and bring my leg across his hip; I can feel him harden again against my thigh. All it would take is a quick shift to the right. His desire fuels the heat in my blood.

"I'd rather have you work for it." I drag my teeth across his bottom lip again, "I bet you can't make me say it again."

His eyes question me, but I roll my hip against his as a sign of my consent. He kisses me, with one hand in my hair, while he starts to shift to the right.

Then the fucking alarm goes off.

We both swear profusely as we pull away and look for our clothes.

"We better not die." Beast Boy says after we're dressed.

"Don't fucking die." I kiss him harshly before we're off.

It wasn't good. I peer at him over my shoulder; he's still facing the other way, just as disappointed as I am. We got into bed together almost as soon as we were debriefed from our latest assignment. The sex was quick and dirty and we both came: just like it used to be, but instead of collapsing unto one another and falling asleep; we roll away from each other, hallow and dissatisfied.

What the hell are we supposed to do now?

I hear him sigh and feel him turn himself over in the bed. He moves closer to me. I'm surprised to feel his lips against my shoulder and his hand wander across my hip. I lift my head to look at him. He looks serious.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying again," He answers, pausing to kiss my throat, "That sucked, and Rae, we don't suck at this."

"No, no we don't." I grab hold of his chin and plant my mouth on his.

Our movements are unhurried and firm, with every touch the fire in our skin grows. The feelings we have, but never share, shifts around us and influences every move we make. Despite the slow pace, everything intensifies because of them. It seems like hours until we really finish, with multiple orgasms for us both. I fall onto his chest once we exhaust ourselves. My legs tremble and I don't think he's stopped smiling since the first time I made him come.

"So," I breathe out, "that's what making love is."

His chest shudders with his laugh, "Guess so. How many times did you say my name again?"

I smirk and run my hand across his chest, "Three?"

He makes a smug little grunt and I feel his pride press against my senses. I'd tease him about the last two times were an accident, but I don't, he certainly earned it. I kiss his collarbone and settle my body against him.

His hand strokes my back, "This love-making isn't going to scare you away is it?"

I consider his question carefully. Love-making is certainly a step we haven't taken before, but I'm not sure in what direction that step takes us. I'm unsure, but not afraid. I lean up and kiss him, my fingers pressed against his cheek.

"You just worry about the very high bar you've set for yourself now." I tell him.

He grins at me, "I'm not worried in the least."


	7. Reshape

In the next week, we try to be alone together as much as possible. We may not always have enough time to make-love, which we've made our ultimate goal in the bedroom now, but we at least settle for quickies.

There's certainly a lot more talking. We'll talk before and after and once or twice we managed to talk during, though talking during inevitably turns dirty. Like the time where I called him Gar in bed without him getting me off.

"You called me Gar." He had taunted me.

"So? You call me babe."

"Yeah, but I call you babe when we're not sleeping together," He had nibbled on my ear lobe when he said this, "You only call me Gar when I make you come."

"It does have a certain ring to it." I had admitted, "Maybe I'll use it more often."

And I do use it more often, whenever we're alone together. Beast Boy just doesn't seem to fit now. With all of the things we do together, Gar just doesn't seem to be anything boyish anymore.

The more we talk, the more we make-love, and the more we make-love, the more intimate everything becomes, and with more intimacy comes even more talking. I would call it a vicious circle, but there's nothing vicious about it.

Gar curls his hand in my hair and leans against the wall of my room, I lean against him in turn.

"Remember how I mentioned that the tower should have a library?" He asks before he kisses me.

It's a long time before I pull away, "What about it?"

"I might have mentioned it to Rob today."

I chuckle and snake my arms around his waist, "I wish I could have seen the look on his face."

Gar grins at me, "You should have seen the look on mine when he said we could build one."

I press my knee between his legs, "Getting me a library. Very Beauty and the Beast of you."

He promptly tells me that it isn't all about me and proceeds to kiss me.

"Don't worry, I won't get too smart with all that book-learning." He says when he moves to kiss my neck.

I press my hips against his, "Good, I like my little idiot."

He bites hard in response and I let out a little moan, before our communicators start buzzing. We groan with disapproval.

"If we don't die?" I ask before I pull away entirely.

"If we don't die." He smirks.

We make our way to the OPS center. I'm starting to wonder when Robin will notice we always enter together whenever there's an alert.

Gar pulls me down the hall once we're debriefed. I ache all over, and all I want to do is sleep.

"Gar," I stop him and sigh tiredly, "Let's just go to sleep."

His smile seems tired, "Not yet, trust me. I've got an idea."

I can't imagine what idea of his could be better than sleep, but when he takes me to the extra bathroom next to the evidence room that never gets used, and begins to fill the tub with hot water; I start to understand. We help each other undress, in the least sexual way possible; we're both too exhausted for any of that nonsense. The water feels awesome against my sore muscles. "Okay," I concede as I recline against him in the bath, "This was a good idea."

He chuckles as we sink deeper into the water, it comes close to reaching the rim. I rest my head against his collarbone and sigh. It's such a good idea. Even the shoulder I got shot in feels good, maybe I'll have Gar massage it later; he gives surprisingly good shoulder rubs.

"I do have one from time-to-time." He says.

His fingers curl around mine. I squeeze his hand. It's been a while since I've felt this relaxed. We should do this more often, whenever we aren't fighting crime or having sex.

"I think Robin might be starting to connect the dots." Gar mentions.

"Hmm, it's about time. I guess we should tell him soon." I swirl some water with my free hand. "He'll hate the fact that we've kept this from him."

"And what do we even tell him 'this' is?" Gar chuckles behind me, "Sure Rob, Rae and I just sleep together anytime your back is turned. What? Oh no, we're not just fuck-buddies. And no, we aren't dating either. What's that? Oh, okay, well guess it makes sense to kick me out."

"He would not kick you off the team, Gar." I squeeze his hand again.

"He'd consider it, he'd never kick you out, because your Raaaaaven" Gar moves so he can kiss my temple, and then my ear, and then my neck, "quiet, saintly, pure Raven, who of course had to be coerced into fucking nasty, dirty, trouble-making Beast Boy."

I lean into him with a small smile, "You'll be fine. Quiet, saintly, pure Raven will make sure nasty, dirty, trouble-making Beast Boy will keep his spot on the team."

"How sweet of you." He kisses my cheek and leans his head back against the wall.

"I try." I shrug.

"We'll tell Rob tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." I agree.

We should install tubs in all the bathrooms, showers are great, but this is better. We sit there for a while, until we soak up all the heat from the bathwater. Slowly, I manage to turn without sloshing water out of the tub so I can face Gar.

"So, what I said about going to sleep." I smirk at him, "I'm not so tired now."

"Really? Me neither!" He pulls me to him, this time water sloshes out of the tub. All that work for nothing.

I have no idea what it is about being in water that makes a kiss especially great, but when we do, it's like melting. We're definitely going to do this more often. Our hands start to wander, dripping water everywhere. We couldn't care less.

Until I hear the door open. We look up, startled to see our fearless leader, with nothing but a towel on. With a red face, I realize that he sees us with absolutely nothing on. It's purely instinctual and without thought when I thrust my hand forward and my magic not only throws Robin out of the room, but slams the door and locks it.

Gar has the gall to laugh about it all.

"Well, I guess we don't have to wait until tomorrow anymore."


	8. Renegociate

Gar and I sit on the couch in bathrobes, while Robin paces in front of us, struggling to find what he should and should not be asking. I'm a little upset at him, I mean, yes I did throw him into a wall with my magic, but he could have at least given us the chance to change before he summoned us to the living room for a tongue lashing. I mean, he's dressed.

I glance over to the side and see Cyborg and Starfire have been summoned too. Apparently they find the situation amusing, since both of them can't contain their smiles. At last, Robin stops and looks at us.

"What the hell, guys?"

How does he manage to remain so articulate when he's upset?

Gar and I don't say anything. We wait and see what else the Boy Wonder can come up with. I hear Cyborg snigger.

Robins's glaring at us through his mask, which I have no idea why he still has on. Has he finally managed to superglue it to his face?

"When did you two…start…" Robin's face contorts into an expression of discomfort.

Maybe this interrogation won't be as horrible as previously thought. Gar and I share a look. If we have to sit here and explain ourselves like naughty school children to the principal; we might as well have some fun. Gar moves closer and throws his arm around my shoulders

"We started fucking on a regular basis about six months ago." I state calmly as I make myself comfortable against Gar's side.

Robin's face, priceless, and Cyborg erupts into laughter while Starfire gasps at my language.

"Raven!" Starfire admonishes. What is she? The potty-mouth police?

"Right, sorry, how did you say it? _Coupling?_ We started _coupling _on a regular basis about six months ago." I correct myself.

Robin turns his attention to Star, "You knew and didn't tell me?"

Starfire smiles sweetly, "Raven confided in me and I could not betray her confidence."

"I knew too, bro." Cyborg shrugs with a smug grin, "What's the big deal?"

It's nice to see our friends join in on the fun.

"What's the big deal? Two of my teammates have been fraternizing for the last six months and I had no idea!" His pauses before swinging around and pointing an accusing finger at Gar. "YOU had a girlfriend!"

Gar nods, "Yeah, it took me a while to realize that was a mistake."

"You came to your senses eventually." I pat his knee, "Though it did take you a month, and then there was the two months after that we didn't have sex either."

"Did we really go three months without having sex?" Gar looks appalled, "Babe, we gotta catch up."

"I agree, but it looks like our fearless leader is about to have a stroke."

Robin does look a little pale. I wonder if he'll puke. Eventually he shakes himself from his stupor.

"So, are you two dating?"

"No." Gar and I say in unison.

"Okay so what are you then?"

I roll my eyes, "We're exclusively non-exclusive."

Robin looks confused still when Starfire pipes in: "I had always thought of you two as some form of mates."

"I just thought ya'll were weird." Cyborg says. I chuckle at that, it's probably the best description.

"We don't date other people and we don't date each other, but we sleep together and have feelings for each other, right?" Gar glances at me for confirmation.

"Right."

"You're in a relationship then." Robin states.

"No!" We say again.

I rub my temples, this is no longer fun. "Gar, I don't think he's getting it."

"Me neither Rae, oh well, we tried." He shrugs and moves to stand, pulling me up with him, "Time for bed."

"Wait, no, we are not done here." Robin insists, "I still have questions."

Our fingers knit together.

"Your questions can wait until morning." I say before I let Gar pull me from the room.

With a few goodnights to the rest of the team, we're gone.

In a few minutes, we're in his bed, naked, simply because we don't care enough to find real clothes. It's warm and it's nice and for once, there isn't any thought of sex. Though, that doesn't stop us from wrapping around each other.

"I think that went well," I say as our legs entwine.

Gar laughs and his hand starts to play my hair, "Just wait, I'll be off the team in the morning."

"You will not." I press my lips against his, "I'll threaten him with banishment to another dimension first."

"Aw, you'd do that for me?" He smirks.

"I'd consider it."

We kiss. It's long and deep and it reminds me of what we almost started in the tub. We shift and slide into a position where our hands have more mobility. There might be a couple of thoughts about sex. Gar starts to move his mouth down my throat.

"There is one thing you could do for me." He whispers against my clavicle.

"And what is that?" I hum as he trails back up to my mouth.

His looks me in the eye, "You could tell me that you love me."

Actually, I can't. I push him away and quickly crawl off the bed. I stand in the middle of his room, stark naked, and fight against the familiar pressure beneath my skin. My emotions conflict with one another for supremacy.

"Or not…" Gar follows me, "Look, Rae, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

I can't stop it, magic snakes from my finger tips and shatters all the glass in his room. Picture frames, his television screen, and his window turn to glittering dust. I flush with shame when he looks at me. He seems afraid to touch me.

"Rae?" He reaches out for my hand anyway, "If you don't love me, it's okay. I won't hold it against you, I just, if you did, I wanted..."

"I can't love you Gar." I correct him, "I can't date you, I can't be your girlfriend, I can't do anything more than I already do."

His response is a sad, slow nod. I almost wish he wasn't as understanding as he is. I shouldn't, but I let him hold my hand in his.

"You saw what happened when I got shot. Can you imagine if it was you and you were my boyfriend? If you were someone I loved?"

"Rae, it wouldn't have been that bad..." Gar tries to interject. Sometimes I just find his optimism laughable, now it's just painful.

"I would have killed everyone in that room." I say with absolute certainty. "If you were my boyfriend and you had been shot, I would have killed every single one of them."

His face pulls downward, "So, we can't be anything else; you can't _feel_ anything else for me, because you're scared of losing control of your powers?"

I wish it were just that. I wish it was just a matter of control over my powers. I wish it wasn't for something that seems so selfish.

"It's not just that…I'm also a hero."

Gar gives me a funny look, "So am I!"

I throw my body forward and kiss him. It's silly and poorly timed, but in the end, a kiss is all I'm certain of at the moment. While it does nothing to fix the situation, it gives me time to dispel the warring emotions inside my head. His arms come around me the moment I end it.

"Love means making promises," I say with our lips still touching, "Promising to come home alive, promising to drop everything in an instant, promising devotion and commitment. And, I would promise you all those things; in an instant."

"But you're a hero." He says seriously.

I nod, "I can't love you and be a hero at the same time. I'd tear myself apart over it, because I'm not done being a hero yet. I don't know if I ever will be."

We stare at each other for a while, his eyes boring into mine. For all my empathetic powers, I can't get a read on what he's feeling. His arms tighten around me.

"Do you still want me?" He asks finally.

"What?"

"When I was dating Shannon, you told me you wanted me. You wanted to lay around naked and get attached to me, do you still want that? Because I do, I want you."

"Ten seconds ago you wanted me to love you." I whisper.

"Ten seconds ago I didn't know that it would make you miserable to love me." His stare hardens for a moment, "Now, seriously, do you want me? Because if you do, I'll wait for however long it takes, no complaints."

I shake my head, "I can't make you promise that. What happens if I never quit being a hero? What if I die? You'll have wasted all your time waiting."

He kisses me, hard. We move, or more like, he moves us back towards the bed. It's almost a shame we don't have clothes on, we might be able to busy our hands better. I let him press me down into the mattress; he lingers above me. I'm still not used to the serious look in his eyes.

"I'm not promising anything; I'm just telling you what I'll do if you want me. As far as wasting time goes," He dips his head for another harsh kiss, "Nothing's a waste when it comes to you, babe."

The words fall from me, "I want you, Gar."


	9. When all goes to Hell

A year passes until anything changes between Gar and I. We fight crime, we make love, and we get attached. Some minor changes happen; Gar and Robin change their professional names, to Changeling and Nightwing respectively. I don't know how, but Starfire manages to become more gorgeous. So while Nightwing endeavors to keep me and Gar too busy to copulate, Starfire proves a useful distraction now and again. Idiot Boy Wonder finally got his shit together and asked her out.

Other than those few, small things, its same old same old. Take down the bad guys, get some rest, maybe some sex, and take down more bad guys.

At least, until today it was same old same old.

All we knew before we got to the scene was that a poor Dr. Light copycat was trying to rob a diamond store. What we didn't know was that this copycat had gotten his hands on Dr. Light's original laser, and made adjustments.

Our plan had been to distract him with a smoke screen, and take away his weapons before he had a chance to react. Very Dynamic Duo stuff, but we've done it in the past successfully, and besides, a copycat should be easy.

With an almost imperceptible nod from Nightwing, we start our attack. Our smokescreen is blown away before it gets a chance to cover us. We're out in the open, it doesn't matter; we've got this.

He aims his weapon, narrowly missing Nightwing, and slices a car in half. I can smell the burnt metal. Dr. Light's weapons never did that…maybe we don't got this.

Nightwing orders a retreat, but we know it's fake. If we were really going to retreat, he'd try another smokescreen, or a flash bomb. Instead, he begins a slow walk backwards. Before we can make our next move, which is for me and Starfire to simultaneous attack from opposite sides, then Changeling, then Cyborg, then Nightwing, our copycat makes a fast sweep with his laser. I throw up a shield that protects Cyborg, Nightwing and me. Starfire dodges and Changeling…

In a second he screams, and he falls. I don't even think about it, my shield contorts into shadowy claws; one rips the weapon away, the other closes upon our copycat. I squeeze until he cries out. I catch a glimpse as Cyborg and Nightwing rush over to Changeling. Gar picks up his head, he's on his knees, but he's alive. Good, I turn my attention back to the copycat. I draw him to me.

"You're lucky he's alive." I leer at him. "Very lucky."

A shadowy finger presses against his throat, I won't choke him, but no one can blame me if I accidently crush his larynx and he can't speak. Starfire places her hand on my shoulder.

"We should attend to Changeling."

I shake my head, "Cy and Nightwing have him."

"I do not believe you understand." Starfire forces me to face her; she never forces anyone, "You will go see to Changeling, I will handle the copycat."

I drop the villain and do as Starfire says. I'm not in any way prepared for the fact that Gar has lost everything below his knees.

It's a blurry, draining couple of days. In the first few hours it's decided that reattachment isn't an option. The laser burned off too many nerves in both the severed legs and in the stubs they left behind. Even my magic is of no use. The damage is too extensive, extensive enough that Gar needs surgery to keep his tibial arteries from bleeding out, meaning stitches and recovery time. Plus, they had to shave down what bone was left to make a cleaner stump. More stitches, more recovery time.

My magic can finally help in the days after his surgery, ease the nausea he feels, reduce the risk of infection, but he'll need bed rest for a few more weeks, without using his powers. Most of the time I sleep in a chair next to his bed in the med bay, my magic is powerful, but each healing session leaves me spent, and I'm still called on missions. Sometimes, Cyborg will come in and hang out with him, bring a video game or two while I go shower or go debrief with Nightwing.

"Rae."

I must have dozed off. My eyes blink open. What time is it? I glance over and see that Gar's awake and looking at me worriedly.

"Hey." I stretch myself out and lean forward, "What are you doing up?"

He laughs at me, "Babe, its noon."

I shake my head, "No, it was just..." I can't stop the yawn, "nine at night."

Gar laughs again, that's nice to hear. I hold out my hand for him, and he takes it.

"It's good to know you've slept." He says, "I can't remember the last time you've slept through the night."

"How do you know when I sleep and when I don't?"

He shrugs, "I don't have much to do other than watch ya'll wander around and not mention my legs."

I glance at the stumps. I really wish there was a better word for it, but it isn't. We dance around the subject a lot, his legs.

"The others are afraid to hurt your feelings," I tell him honestly, "I think your stumps are weird and I'm not used to them yet."

There's a tug on my hand, "Come here."

It's awkward to kiss when someone is in a hospital bed and you aren't in it with them, but we do it anyway. We haven't been intimate since he lost his legs, and technically, we shouldn't be, at least not until his stitches are out. That doesn't stop me from crawling into bed with him, the kisses become less awkward, and more like they used to be.

"Think you'll get used to them enough by the time I get my stitches out?"

I smirk and move to straddle his hips, "Oh, Gar, didn't I ever tell you about my amputee fetish?"

He laughs at my joke as Cyborg comes strolling in.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?"


	10. Slightly Less Hellish

I stand outside the med-bay door. Gar's getting his stitches out today, but Cyborg won't let me in until he's done. Apparently he thinks that as soon as the last stitch is out I'll jump Gar's bones. He should give me more credit. I would at least wait until Cyborg had his back turned.

It's not long until Cyborg comes out. He looks tired.

"Is he okay?" I ask.

"Oh yeah! Everything's fine. You two can have your fun now." He gives me a look, "Be gentle with him though, he's been on bed rest for two weeks."

I smirk at him, "I can't make any promises."

Cyborg shakes his head and starts to walk away, I hear him say 'nasty' under his breath. I don't hesitate to go in and lock the door behind me.

Gar catches sight of me and grins at me from the far end of the room, "No stitches!"

"No stitches." I repeat. My cloak comes off, as do my shoes, and by the time I reach him, the rest of my uniform is off too.

We're quick and greedy. No foreplay, just a fast and hard fuck. It makes me realize how much I actually missed him. He's exhausted when we finish, which isn't surprising, so I move to lie next to him and give him some room to breathe.

Gar's breathing is heavy when he tells me how much he missed doing that. I nuzzle into his neck.

"Yeah, me too." I admit.

We talk about what his plans are now that his stumps are all healed up. Before I came in, he and Cyborg went over the options. There were some animals that could regenerate limbs, but who knew how that would translate into his human form, and there hasn't been any evidence of any known animals that can regenerate two perfectly functioning limbs at once. So that was out.

There were always stem cells, but to grow just the legs would take several years, and then if reattachment was perfect, it would be PT for at least ten years of his life. There were regular prosthetics, that he could take on and off so he could use his powers, but that would just make him a two-legged cheetah, or a tailless dolphin, which would have to put on prosthetics again whenever he was human.

His only real option was cybernetic attachments, the kind that Cyborg was practically made of. Cyborg said he could whip up a pair of legs for Gar in three weeks. Meaning, he would have legs that listened to his body signals, he could have legs that would technically sense touch and temperature; the only draw-back was…

"No powers." I say.

I glance at his stumps. Cyborg would have to make the new legs connect with the nerves Gar has left. The cybernetic legs couldn't change with the rest of him, and he couldn't take them off.

"Yup." He nods, "That part sucks, but not as much as hanging out in a bed for years and being useless. I want to get on with my life, you know?"

I shift my head so we can look at each other, "What does getting on with your life entail?"

Gar shrugs, "I'm not sure yet, but hero-ing isn't much of an option. I'd be no use in the field, and all the stuff that Oracle does is great, and she's great at it, but I'd suck at that too. So, something else then."

The silence we settle into isn't all that comfortable. I kiss his cheek.

"We'll figure something out."

Gar gives me an odd look, "_We'll_ figure something out? As in you and me?"

I kiss his mouth this time and push my body against his. I let my legs rest atop his stumps.

"Hero-ing might not be much of an option for me either."

His eyes harden, "Don't make that promise, not unless you're sure. You like being a hero remember? I don't want you to give that up for me."

I think it's sweet that he doesn't want me to quit for him. I pull him back for another kiss.

"If I quit being a hero, it'll be for me, not for anyone else." I state.

I can tell that he doesn't believe me, but instead of continuing to discuss it, he changes the subject.

"While I'm waiting on Cy to make me those new legs, think you could help me with a little side-project?"

"Depends on what it is."

His mouth pulls to the side, "You might think it's stupid."

"I think a lot of the stuff you do is stupid." I roll my eyes, "It can't be any worse than you getting your legs taken off with a laser."

He pokes his tongue out at me, "I wanna use my powers for what little good I can while I'm waiting on Cy. I can still transform into snakes, and if I transform into the rare, venomous kind, I could start harvesting the venom, and then…"

"Someone can make the anti-venom?" I finish for him. "That's very forward thinking of you."

"I know it's not taking down Cinderblock, but it's something before my career is done for good." Gar shrugs and looks away bashfully.

Eventually he'll need to talk about how he really feels about all this. Part of me is very proud of how well he's been taking this, the other part worries when he'll crack under the stress of putting on appearances for the rest of us. I pull him back by his chin.

"I'd love to help Gar, but you're going to be busy with something else."

Before he gets the chance to ask what else he'll be busy with, I kiss him and bring his hands to my chest.

"We've got some catching up to do." I whisper after I tug on his lower lip, "We've only made up one month out of the three we didn't screw each other senseless."

He chuckles and makes good use of his hands, "Someone's forgetting that week we took off in February."

"I'm not forgetting anything," I mutter, moving down his throat and putting myself back into my previous position above his hips, "That week made up for the month you had a girlfriend."

He grunts in response. His hands move to draw soft circles on my hips.

"Does that mean two weeks of screwing each other senseless are in order?"

"I wouldn't object," My hands wander below his hips.

Gar lets out a gasp and turns his head to nibble on my earlobe, "And if you get sick of me?"

"We've been at this for almost two years Gar; I haven't gotten sick of you yet." I shift so all it would take is a quick thrust to start us on round two, "Besides, I'll bring a book."

Gar smirks and pulls my face to meet his. In the same second, he thrusts his hips upwards. I gasp against his mouth and dig my nails into his arms. Oh, I'm going to enjoy catching up.


	11. Purgatory

I don't keep him as busy as I would have liked. Collecting venom was a more tedious task than Gar and I had thought. In the weeks that Cyborg spends on building new legs, we spend hours every day gathering and storing venom. What makes the task tricky isn't the transforming and collecting the poison; it's the fact that Gar can maybe get three samples worth at a time before he dehydrates and we need to put him on an IV.

We can't talk Gar out of the project. He's determined that it's the least he can do before he loses his powers. I've determined that the least he can do is not worry me so much. One time he went two days on the IV drip alone without telling anyone; I make him at least eat breakfast now.

We collect the sixth sample today of saw-scale viper venom when my communicator goes off. I glance between Gar and the door.

"Go," Gar tells me once he morphs back, "I gotta take a break anyway."

Without any hesitation, he jabs an IV needle into himself like a pro. I don't like it. I don't like it at all. I kiss him before I leave, something I don't usually do, but then again, things have changed.

When I get back from breaking up a robbery, I find Cyborg and Gar in the med bay together. Gar is sitting up, turned so his stumps hang slightly off the edge of the bed while Cyborg leers at him from the other side of the room. They look…unhappy; I wonder what the hell happened.

"Rae, tell your boy that he's being an idiot." Cyborg demands when he notices me.

"Don't bring her into this!" Gar practically bares his teeth, "This is my choice."

I don't know what choice he's making, but I'm inclined to believe that Cyborg's right about him being an idiot. I move forward so that I stand between them.

"What am I missing?"

Gar snaps his mouth shut. I turn my gaze to Cyborg, who sighs and continues to glare at Gar.

"I finished the legs today." Cyborg tells me without looking at me, "And now he's changed his mind about them."

I don't even know where to start. Cyborg wasn't supposed to be done for another five days; there was supposed to be time for Gar to complete his project, time for rest. I take better notice of how tired Cy looks. When was the last time he powered down?

I say nothing, but move to sit in the chair next to Gar's bed. I won't put myself in the middle of their battle of wills. Besides, it's pretty obvious which side I'd take.

"Look, BB," Cyborg still refuses to call him Changeling, "The sooner we get you these new legs, the better it'll be for you."

"You mean better for the team. The sooner I'm fixed the sooner everyone can stop worrying about me and get back to business." I can't remember the last time Gar was this angry, "Exactly how many days has Nightwing kept you from missions so you can work?"

"What, you don't think I get what's going on? I was driving with my mom one day and then I woke up in the hospital to _this_!"

Cyborg gestures to his entire body. I cringe, but Gar seems unmoved.

"I get that the change is scary, man, but you've got to deal with it and get on with your life. You said so yourself."

"Get out." Gar's knuckles turn white from holding onto the sheets of his bed.

This doesn't sound like Gar. It sounds like me. Cyborg even looks over to confirm that I haven't taken possession of him. I'd be offended, but it has me worried too.

"Fine." Cyborg concedes and then leaves.

Gar doesn't look at me, even though I'm staring intently at him.

"He doesn't get it." He mutters.

I find it hard to believe that Cyborg doesn't understand being an amputee. I shift the chair so I'm closer. I don't dare reach out and touch him; his anger still fills the room. Eventually he explains himself.

"I never minded being green, even with the looks people gave me. I didn't care. I could turn into a T-Rex, for crying out loud, why would I care? But if I go through with getting these new legs…"

"You'll be a freak with a weird complexion and automated legs." I finish for him.

He lets out a dry laugh, "Gotta love your brutal honesty, babe."

The truth isn't brutal; it's the way people avoid it that makes it painful. Gar and I have a very special gift at avoiding and seeing the truth at the same time. I shrug at him.

"You're scared."

"I'm not scared." He snaps.

I shake my head, "Are you really trying to lie to the empath?"

He glances at me, and nods apologetically, and then stares at his lap.

"I just…I thought I'd have more time to figure everything out. I still have no idea what I want to do after I can't be a hero and I can't make the rest of you wait around anymore, but I don't think I can handle it. I don't think I can be a freak without powers."

I rest my hand on his thigh. His hand moves to tighten around mine. Gar's face is turned away from me, but I know he's crying all the same.

"I don't know what I'll be. And…that's scary." He finally manages to say.

I rise from my seat and hug him. His arms are tight around me, and his head bobs against my shoulder, I bury my face into the side of his neck. I don't have any words for him, at least none that would help.

He catches his breath eventually. "So, this is the part where you tell me that Cy's right. That I should stop being scared and just do it?"

"I just want you to be okay." I tell him honestly, "I don't care how you get there."

He considers that for a moment, "Think you'll still want me when I'm a freak?"

A smirk presses against his skin, "You say that as if you weren't always a freak."

Gar laughs weakly at that and moves to kiss my cheek. "At least I've got that honesty of yours to depend on."

I respond by kissing him, it deepens, and I'm pulled into the bed with him. I keep kissing him until our clothes come off, and we make love. The familiar shuddering and shifting of our bodies is comforting. I sense his distress slowly fade. The knotted pit in my stomach unravels.

"Still scared?" I ask him when we finish.

"Yeah," He says, but smiles anyway, "but, we're still figuring stuff out together right?"

It's almost like the first time we made-love, the feeling I get when I rub my nose against his and tell him, "Right."


	12. Damnation

As capable as our med bay is for emergencies, the Tower isn't equipped with a full surgical team or an OR. Gar has his surgery at Jump General, with Cyborg taking the lead. We wait in the hall outside of the OR instead of the waiting room. No one can know the Titans are here, or that one is currently under anesthesia and vulnerable; very vulnerable. Nightwing has Bumble Bee and Speedy patrolling the city while we wait here.

I try to read a book. I don't know why I'm trying when Starfire's anxiety bounces off the walls and she keeps floating past me, back and forth, back and forth.

"Star," I give up and shut my book. "Gar's fine, Cyborg is with him."

Starfire nods, but continues to pace in the air. I sigh and attempt to read again. Out of the corner of my eye I see Nightwing lean against the wall. He refuses to sit, as if sitting down is what will lead to something catastrophic. I roll my eyes. Men.

"Raven." I glance up. Nightwing's looking at me, "I have a mission for you."

He can't be serious. I throw my book down and half-run to him. "Are Bee and Speedy okay?"

Nightwing nods, "It's about Gar. He'll need protection after this surgery, at least until we get him settled somewhere with a new alias, maybe even after. He's still got lots of enemies, even if he's out of the game now. I need someone with him to keep him safe."

I feel like a child. So I hit him. I'm surprised he doesn't block it, but I'm not prone to hitting people with my fists, so I guess he wasn't expecting it. Luckily it only lands on his chest and not his face, though that is a tempting option.

"Don't give me some petty mission as some sort of out." I glare at him, "If I want out of the game, I'll take myself out, thank you."

Starfire floats over to us, "Why are you hitting Nightwing?"

"Because he's an idiot!" I tell her before I go back over to my seat.

I force my book open and bury myself in it. I try to ignore the fact that Star and Nightwing sit next to me for the remainder of Gar's surgery.

The others take Cyborg home when Gar's in recovery. I'm the only one who stays at the hospital and waits for him to wake up. According to Cyborg, that's what Gar said he wanted before the anesthesia knocked him out. So I wait with my book. It's mid-afternoon when he wakes up, and it's not a pretty awakening.

At first he smiles at me, dazed and sleepy. Slowly he sits up. I give him some water and I update him on what Cyborg told me. No complications, and once his incisions heal, they can start PT. A few moments after he gulps down the water and the news, he starts to puke.

"Gar?" I grab the little pink bin they give you at hospitals and put it in front of him.

He throws up what little water he's had and continues to dry heave for the next couple of minutes. I wonder if I should go get a nurse. He grabs my hand and grips it tight.

Gar picks his head back up and looks at me, "Anesthesia makes me nauseous."

I know that. I was there after his first surgery, when they were making cleaner stumps, he tried puking his guts up then too. This time is worse though, I'll admit. He dry heaves a few more times before I feel okay with taking away the bin. Gar eventually leans back against the bed, wiping his mouth with a tissue. There's still a slight tremor in his body.

"Sorry about that." He apologizes, "I didn't want the others to see."

I nod and come to sit on the side of his bed. "How do you feel?"

"Dizzy, nauseous, afraid to look at my new… Attachments." He tells me honestly.

I squeeze his hand. Still fighting nausea, he closes his eyes and occasionally swallows. He strokes the back of my hand with his thumb. I decide to talk since he obviously can't.

"Dick tried to kick me off the team today." I tell him, thinking he'll find the attempt as ridiculous as I do.

Gar's eyes fly open and he lurches forward, "What?"

The sudden movement isn't a good idea, and he starts to retch again. I grab the bin in time to catch the spit that comes flying from his mouth. I wince from the violent convulsions I accidently put him through.

"I'm sorry." I say as he lays back and holds my hand again. "I probably should have started that better."

"Probably," Gar agrees, and manages to keep his eyes open this time, "So, he tried to kick you off the team? Why?"

"He didn't try to really kick me off the team, but he did try to assign me as some sort of body guard for you, as if I need some sort of excuse to leave the team. It was stupid."

Gar gulps, "Well, you can blame me for that."

"Excuse me?" I drop his hand.

Gar grunts as he tries to sit up, for a moment I worry that he'll dry heave again. He swallows before he looks me dead in the eye.

"We all know you're going to quit the team and that you're going to quit for me. I don't want you to, but I can't stop you, so I figured maybe if Nightwing made it more of an assignment than…"

"A resignation?" I finish for him in anger, "You have no right to meddle in this. I have the right to choose this for myself."

"No one's saying you don't! But Rae, you're a freaking hero, who still has her powers, who's still useful even without them! You shouldn't give that up for a guy who isn't even your boyfriend!" He gets upset again, and he clutches at his stomach.

I dutifully place the bin back in his lap, but he doesn't need it in the end. When his eyes open again, his gaze is softer, sadder.

"I just, I don't want you to lose who you are." He says miserably, "Just because I'm lost doesn't mean you have to be."

I want to tell him that he isn't lost, but that would be a lie. He's lost a lot more than his legs. I shift and lean over him to kiss his forehead. I rest my chin on the top of his head and run my fingers through his hair. His arm curls on my back and I bring my legs onto the bed with me. This is really all I can do, be close to him, and let him be lost for a little while.


	13. Resurrect

The gym has temporarily been modified into a physical therapy center, as per Cyborg's orders. If Gar was going to get PT, he'd do it here, in the tower, where if anything should go wrong with the new legs, Cyborg could fix it. The precaution may have been unnecessary, but things seem almost normal again, now that Gar no longer spends all day in the med bay.

I'm finding that I have more time to read. The further along Gar gets with his PT the more Nightwing keeps me from missions. By the time Gar's fully recovered and regains all mobility I'll be totally phased out. I'm sure Nightwing's already looking for our replacements.

The cybernetic legs are still weird to see; they look like Cyborg's, chrome finish with blue circuitry. It's trippy, but they're the only reason that Gar's progressed so quickly through the PT. He can walk short distances long enough to reach one room from the next. Sitting down and getting back up is still troublesome. Everything that makes him rely on the muscles above his new metal knees is troublesome. That's what him and Cy are working on today leg-lifts that should help him build back some muscle mass.

When I look up from my book Gar catches my glance and winks. I roll my eyes, idiot. I begin reading again and listen in as Cy and Gar count off the reps. 23…24…25 and done. Never more than 25, Cyborg won't let him go past that, Gar never does less.

In a couple more minutes they'll finish up, after some stretches. Then we'll go spend the rest of the day like we used to.

"So, is all this stretching going to make me crazy flexible?" Gar asks loudly. He's trying to get my attention, "'Cuz I think Raven might enjoy that."

I hear Cyborg swat Gar, "Man, shut-up about that stuff. Is sex all you two do?"

"Sometimes we snuggle." I tell Cyborg from behind my book.

I catch the look on his face, beautiful. Gar laughs and Cyborg just shakes his head at the two of us.

"Ya'll are starting to rub off on each other, I don't like it."

Oh, he walked right into that one.

"That's not all we're rubbing off." Gar sniggers.

And just like that PT for today is over. Cyborg goes red in the face and walks straight out of the room. He really shouldn't be this flustered about Gar and I, but then again, we're not always so blatant about it. Gar and I share a smirk. Now that he's done for the day, perhaps we can go enjoy our afternoon.

It's nice, being able to screw in a real bed. I've grown spoiled on it the last few weeks. More room, better mattress, more time before someone tries to interrupt, all around it's better than squeezing into a hospital bed with Gar. We switch positions at lot, even with the PT there's a limit to what Gar can do. Not that I mind, it's kind of exciting, all the flipping around.

I know it's starting to get to him though. He's almost able to do everything he used to, excluding the shape-shifting and crime fighting, but it's still slow work. It's still hard on him. So we kiss, and grope, and get naked; the things we always do to feel better. You would think we'd get tired of the sex, get tired of the way the other person's body fits against us, but we don't.

He kisses me, slowly, like he's savoring it. I press closer to him. I still find it odd how his metallic legs never grow warm, even if the rest of him is flushed from sex. It doesn't bother me; the coolness does feel good against my legs. Though, I do wonder if it bothers him.

I pause, "How are you doing?"

Gar chuckles and kisses me again; we roll to the side, placing me beneath him. I reach up and tug on his hair. He makes that growling noise that I like so much.

"Pretty damn good," Gar nips my nose, "You?"

"I've had better." I lie.

"Ahuh, well let's see if we can't fix that." He says, starting to trail kisses from my neck down past my navel.

He never makes anything easy. I'm willing to wait to finish this later.

"How are you doing, in general?"

Gar grunts, sighs, and flops onto his side. He shimmies until we're eye-to-eye again.

"Mood-killer." He accuses me.

I roll my eyes, but move so we're touching again. Heaven forbid we should be naked and not touching, "Moods can easily be resurrected. Now, how are you?"

"Better," He admits and absently touches my hair, "I'm not, great, but the PT helps. I don't feel so…"

"Useless?"

Gar laughs, "Babe, people are really gonna start thinking we're dating if you keep finishing my sentences."

"Let people think what they want." I kiss him long and slow, before adding, "I'm glad you're not feeling so useless."

"Cy says if I keep up the pace, I'll be back to…normal doesn't sound right does it?"

"You're a green shape-shifter with pointy-ears and mechanical legs, who can no longer shape-shift and sleeps around with a half-demon; Gar, there nothing normal about you."

"Glad we agree about that." Gar smiles for a moment and then adds with a frown, "I still don't know what I want to do, even once I'm as normal as someone like me can be."

"Hmm," I run my fingers down the slope of his shoulder, "You still owe me two weeks of screwing each other senseless. We could always do that once Cyborg gives the okay."

"And after those two weeks? What are we going to do then?" He questions as my hand travels down his arm and eventually reaches his hip.

"We'll have two weeks to figure something out." I pull him so he's on top again and I tug at his hair, "In the meantime, there's a mood to bring back from the dead."


	14. Epilogue

4 Years Later

It's late when I get home tonight, very late. Gar is probably pissed that I missed dinner. I can't blame him; it is the third time this week that I've missed it. I just hate having to sneak back into my own apartment like a thief, but that's what happens when you get a call from Nightwing and rush out of the house without your keys _and_ forget to call your live-in boyfriend to leave the front door unlocked.

I could use magic to simply phase into the apartment, but where's the fun in that? Besides, I may have put protection spells in the walls to keep any other magic users out… I should have thought that one through a little better.

Luckily, we're in the habit of leaving our bedroom window unlocked, even if it overlooks the fire escape. I push the window open as quietly as I can, I hope Gar's already asleep and I can wait until morning to get the due lecture about promises. I need to reconsider this part-time hero thing.

The bedroom is dark and I can't tell from my position by the window if Gar's in bed or not. I close it behind me, and turn to throw off my shoes and start taking off the neoprene cat suit I've come to start wearing whenever I'm called in. The bedroom door opens just as I throw on an old t-shirt.

"Welcome home, babe."

I jump, and even though the light coming from the kitchen only lets me see his silhouette, I know Gar's grinning. He always likes to catch me. With a sigh, I kick the cat suit into the closet and approach him. Once I'm close enough, I see the grin for myself.

"I know I missed dinner." I give him a peck on the lips as a way of an apology. "Nightwing called, someone was trying to sell fake rings-of-Azar in Blüdhaven and he needed me to check them out."

He nods. I don't sense any frustration from him. Weird. The last time I missed dinner, he made me make it up to him with dirty sex. Maybe he's figured out how I'm going to make it up to him. I kinda hope in involves those fuzzy-pink handcuffs; like before.

"Well you're not the only one who got a call today." He tells me as he wraps his arms around my waist.

It takes me a moment to register what he's talking about before I smile. "You got the job?"

"You're looking at the new chemistry teacher at Steel High School." His eyes glint triumphantly. "What do you think of that?"

There's no pause or hesitation when I give him a long, deep, kiss for an answer. We moved to Steel City about three years ago; after our two weeks of screwing each other senseless and deciding what we wanted to do next. So we moved here, so Gar could go to school, he wanted to be a teacher of all things. After a brief and awful semester studying biology, he switched to chemistry, which he was just as good at and it didn't bring up any bad memories. Living in Steel with him, I could work occasionally with Titans East if they needed me. I hadn't been ready to give up being a hero entirely yet while he went off to school.

Gar graduated a just a little over week ago.

I pull just far enough from his mouth to speak. "I think we should celebrate."

Our lips meet again, my body presses against his, hands start to wander. Gar stops it though.

"I'd love to babe, really," He says as he grabs my hands and brings them down to our sides. "But before we do anything, you should really go see who's camped out on our couch."

"Again?"

Gar nods sadly and I sigh. Dropping his hands, I walk out into the kitchen and from where I stand; I can indeed see a mop of blonde hair flopped over one end of the couch.

"Melvin…" I whisper to myself in disappointment.

"She showed up just as I was beginning to set the table." Gar explains behind. "Hitch-hiked here."

"I'll talk to her," I say as I move to wake her up, but Gar stops me with a hand on my shoulder.

"Let her sleep, we'll chew her out over breakfast." Gar says and with one look back at Melvin, I follow him back to our room.

I close the door behind us. "She can't keep doing this. She's going to get hurt if she keeps this up."

Gar moves to turn on our bedside lamp. With a sigh, he sits on the bed and motions for me to join him, "She misses you Rae."

"I miss her too, but…she belongs at the monastery. She's safe there." I say tiredly as I sit beside him. "She can't just leave because she thinks it's boring."

"I don't think it's because she's bored, Rae. She's lonely." His hand starts rubbing my back, "Besides, didn't you escape into an abandoned library when you were growing up with the monks?"

"Hanging out in a forgotten room and hitch-hiking across half of the country are two completely different things." I say.

"Fine." Gar sighs and retracts his hand, "But, you should understand what she's going through. Powerful little girl who's holed up with monks for her own protection and cut-off from everything else? I mean, c'mon babe, ya'll couldn't be any more alike."

I snort at that and lean my head against his shoulder, his hand returns to my back, "I don't know what to do…If I send her back, and she's bound to leave again and she might be too mad at me this time to come back here, she might go somewhere else, get mixed-up in the wrong things."

I close my eyes as Gar resumes rubbing my back. After a moment or two, he has a crazy idea.

"What if we don't send her back?"

"What?" I lift my head, "And have her live here with us?"

Gar shrugs, "Why not? We're the closest thing she's got. She's a good kid and she needs a family."

"And we're supposed to be that family," I gesture between us, "Gar, we've barely gotten started on living our own lives. Do you really want to invite a thirteen-year old to come live with us?"

"I want Melvin to be safe." His eyes narrow at me, "I want her to be happier than we were growing up. Hell, I figured you did too."

"Of course I want those things for her!" I glare back at him, "I just don't know if we're the best for her. Are we really cut-out to be parents? We're fairly messed-up people, in case you haven't noticed."

Gar looks away from me and stares intently at the floor. We turn silent. I sigh; I don't want to fight tonight. I just wanted to come home, take my lecture and go to bed.

"Do you not want Melvin to stay with us, because you don't want to raise her with me?" Gar asks after a while.

My hand rests on his metallic knee as I use the other to turn his head so I can look him in the eye, "I don't want Melvin to stay with us, because our life is complicated without throwing a teenager into the mix. I have never doubted that you would be a good parent if you wanted to be."

Gar nods and moves forward to kiss me on the cheek, "You'd be a good parent too, if you wanted to be."

We go to bed soon after that, and while Gar falls asleep quickly, I stay awake and think. I consider almost everything about the situation. What Melvin would want, what Gar and I want, what we would have to do if we really wanted to consider adopting Melvin. Most of it would be paperwork, showing people we can keep a safe and clean house wouldn't be so hard, plus Melvin already knows us, trusts us, and we are heroes, or…at least we're a one retired and semi-retired hero duo. There would just be one thing that might not make it work. I nudge Gar awake.

"We'd have to get married." I tell him as his sleepy eyes blink into focus, "No judge is going to hand over custody to a couple who isn't married or at least officially engaged, no matter how many times we've saved the world."

He looks at me like I've gone insane, "Are you saying you want to get married? Because this is one shitty proposal."

"If we wanted to adopt Melvin, that's what we would have to do." I tell him plainly.

His face screws into a confused expression, "Now, you want to adopt Melvin together?"

I don't answer his question directly, "We'd have to consider adopting Timmy and Teether too. Out of fairness."

After a long pause, Gar nods. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," He nods again, "We'll get married, adopt three super-powered kids, and live happily ever after. But in the morning, cuz that was, like I said, a shitty proposal. I deserve to be swept off my feet."

He kisses me, and then pulls me so that my head lies against his chest. I settle against him.

"You really want to do that with me?" I ask him before he has the chance to fall back asleep.

"Promise." He strokes my hair, "You sure you want all of that?"

I press a kiss to his lips, "Promise." 

* * *

Thanks for hanging in there this long guys! Hope you've enjoyed it!


End file.
